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Thursday, August 18, 2011

Today I'm posting about another virtual blogger party - but it's for me this time!! My good friend Annie of Annie's Eats, and she offered to throw me a virtual baby shower in honor of my baby boy's imminent arrival, so I rounded up some of my favorite food bloggers and friends for the occasion. All of these ladies not only write fabulous food blogs, but they are also some of the sweetest, most talented, smartest, and all around awesome women I know. And they all went all-out for this occasion. There is some seriously amazing food that they whipped up.

Nikki of Pennies on a Platter is one of my favorite food bloggers, and she started us off with a refreshing mocktail - Sparkling Italian Lemonade. I've become quite addicted to sparkling water over the course of my pregnancy, so I know that I would love this. And I really love the addition of basil - it seems like such a refreshing and summery drink!

Our gracious hostess Annie, is not only one of my favorite food bloggers, but she is an awesome friend as well. We always joke that we share a brain because we have such similar tastes and opinions, and I take that as an enormous compliment - she is not only a successful food blogger, but the mom of two incredibly adorable children and a physician as well! She went all out for the occasion, and made one of my favorite appetizers, Fried Pickles, and served them with ranch ice cream! I have never heard of such a thing, but I bet it's tasty. And the possibilities of things to dip into it are pretty much endless. Neither Joey nor myself really care for pickles, but if you fry them then we both will absolutely devour them. I especially love Annie's spin on "pickles and ice cream," and I love that she made a southern dish as well! Annie, you are awesome!

Elly is the voice behind Elly Says Opa! , and she's one of my all-time favorite food bloggers. We correspond almost daily via email, and she has the best sense of humor. I routinely laugh out loud at some of the things she says. Elly made these tasty-looking grilled cheese sandwiches. They are filled with manchego cheese (yum) and piquillo peppers, and grilled on yeasted cornbread. I love eating finger sandwiches at showers - I don't feel as guilty as I would eating a whole sandwich - and rest assured, I'm pretty sure I'd eat several of these little babies!

Cate of Cate's World Kitchen is another mom-to-be, and she is pretty much due any day now with a sweet baby girl! She writes a vegetarian food blog with lots of stories about her running and life. Her blog always leaves me wanting to give up meat and run marathons. ;-) For my virtual shower, she made these delicious Apricot and Chevre Phyllo Purses. I have a major obsession with combining goat cheese and fruit, so these look pretty much perfect to me.

I had the pleasure of meeting Branny from Branny Boils Over at BlogHer Food a few months ago. She is one of the funniest people I've ever met, and I so loved hanging out with her all weekend. We enjoyed a phenomenal dinner one night at Wisteria here in Atlanta, and ordered Pimiento Cheese Deviled Eggs for the table. Honestly, I'm not a huge fan of deviled eggs, but adding pimiento cheese to them definitely has me becoming a convert! I hope she can make another trip to Atlanta so we can hang out again - or maybe I'll go visit her and her horses on her farm!

I was first introduced to Shanon of The Curvy Carrot through Annie, who is friends with her in real life. Shanon posts some of the most delicious and decadent recipes, and interspersed with healthy fare. Definitely my style of eating and cooking! As are these Mini Mac & Cheese Pies. Bite sized mac & cheese? I'm pretty sure I could down several of these!

Shawnda of Confections of a Foodie Bride is not only one of my favorite food bloggers, but she is the brains behind Project Pastry Queen as well. I pretty much want to jump up and cook everything she posts the minute I read about it, and these empanadas are absolutely no exception. Stuffed with pulled pork and served with chipotle-peach BBQ sauce, I can't think of a more irresistible combination. She must be aware of my love for all things chipotle, peaches, and pulled pork, because this sounds like my favorite appetizer ever!

Tara from Smells Like Home is another long-time blogging friend, and I had the pleasure of hanging out with her at BlogHer Food as well! She is so much fun, and I'm glad we keep in touch via email and facebook. She hails from the northeast (and has a New York accent!), and I was lucky enough to be around for her to try pimiento cheese, okra, and other fun southern delicacies when she was here in Atlanta. She went southern for the shower and made Fried Pimiento Mac and Cheese. Ummm I don't really know what to say about this. It pretty much sounds like the best thing ever!

Jen of Bakin' and Eggs not only writes her food blog, but she also maintains a great fitness and lifestyle blog, Peanut Butter Runner. Even though she is a UGA fan, I still love her to death, and I am thrilled with her contribution. Baked Vidalia Onion Dip is right up my ally - sweet vidalia onions, gooey cheese, and a crunchy breadcrumb topping. I absolutely love dips, so I'm pretty sure I'd eat more than my fair share of this!

And now moving on to desserts! Kelsey from Apple a Day is one of the sweetest, most genuine people that I've (never) met, and she really spoke my language with this Sweet Tea Tiramisu. I saw this recipe in Southern Living a few months ago, and I've been thinking about it ever since. The lady fingers are soaked in sweet tea in this version - seriously, how genius is that?!

Courtney from Cook Like a Champion was my roommate at BlogHer Food, and we had the best time together all weekend! She is so much fun, and pretty much the most adorable person I've ever met. Even though I had never met her prior to that weekend, I immediately felt like she was just an old friend whom I'd known for years! She made these Peach Mousse Verrines for my shower, and aren't they just gorgeous? There are layers of peach puree, peach mouse, and strawberry puree. They just sound and look so lovely and light, and absolutely perfect for a shower!

Michelle is a relatively new blogger, and she writes Cook Au Vin. She is not only a great blog-friend, but she is one of my real-life friends too! Our daughters are close to the same age, and we love to get them together to play while we talk food. She is from New York, so even though she doesn't understand or particularly like some of my favorite southern foods and traditions, she went southern for my shower! These Mini Peach Pies are not only super cute, but they were delicious as well! One of the perks of inviting a local friend to a virtual shower is that I got to actually eat some of the food :-) Now if only I could get her to like okra....

Bridget from The Crumbly Cookie is a fellow science nerd, so I love her scientific and methodical approach to cooking and baking. I also love these Chocolate Friands. Bridget says they are little brownies that are so rich that they're almost like candy. I can definitely get behind that! Early on in this pregnancy I couldn't really handle super rich desserts, and I am so glad I got over that when I left morning sickness behind!!

Karin is another one of my real life friends who also blogs. She is hilarious, awesome, sweet, and all around wonderful. Karin is not only the lady behind This Wife Bakes, but she is also a ridiculously talented cake baker and decorator as well. Her cakes are seriously amazing! She has a son that is a few days older than Caroline, and when they were babies we used to meet to walk (and gossip) at a local park. I wish she was pregnant again so we could continue that tradition when this baby boy is born! I love having cupcakes at showers, and she made these Brown Sugar Cupcakes with Raspberry Buttercream - how cute are they?! And I love the little decorations/adornments as well. Too fun!

This shower is so amazing, and I am so thankful to have made such wonderful friends in the blogging world. Be sure to check out the blogs of these lovely ladies to see the full recipes for these awesome treats. I know I for one really want to make every single thing featured here! You girls are all so awesome, and I feel so lucky to be able to call each of you my friend. Everything y'all cooked looks so incredible, and I love that so many of you went southern (it is my favorite style of cooking, after all). Thank you all, from the bottom of my heart!

A shower as wonderful as this shows how loved you are. You are a wonderful person and I had so much fun making a special treat for you. I hope we can meet one day, so I can whip this up for you in person! Hugs and best wishes for the final days of your pregnancy and your first days as a family of four :-)

I love this idea! It's awesome to see how the blog world comes together to help celebrate and uplift a fellow blogger! I just recently started food blogging and it has been a great experience so far. Your blog is one of my favorites! Good luck with baby!

Big hugs Josie! I'm so thrilled to have been a part of your shower and I can't wait to meet the new little one. You are seriously one of the sweetest people I've ever met and I'm so happy we've become such good friends.

I stumbled upon your blog via Annie's Eats and was immediately intrigued! First of all, we share the name Josie - and secondly, your food looks amazing and your family looks adorable. :) I will definitely be a new follower! I'm excited to see what you continue to make and excited for your new little one to arrive!

I stumbled upon your blog via Annie's Eats and was immediately intrigued! First of all, we share the name Josie - and secondly, your food looks amazing and your family looks adorable. :) I will definitely be a new follower! I'm excited to see what you continue to make and excited for your new little one to arrive!

What a lovely celebration of the upcoming arrival of your baby boy! Thanks for sharing. The fried pickles and ranch icecream is a genius idea. I will have to file that away for any future baby showers I host :)

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